CrossOver Alternatives for Mac

There are many alternatives to CrossOver for Mac if you are looking for a replacement. The best Mac alternative is Wine, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 25 alternatives to CrossOver and 15 are available for Mac so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Mac alternatives to CrossOver are PlayOnLinux - PlayOnMac, Parallels Desktop, Pegasus and Whisky.

CrossOver alternatives are mainly Compatibility Layer Tools but may also be Game Library Managers or Virtualization Tools. Filter by these if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of CrossOver.

CrossOver

Paid • Open Source
Compatibility Layer Tool

CrossOver allows you to install many popular Windows applications and games on your Intel OS X Mac or Linux computer.

More about CrossOver

CrossOver alternatives page was last updated

Wine
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Compatibility Layer Tool
Mac
Linux
Android
Android Tablet
BSD
31 Wine alternatives
Wine is a free, open source application for running Windows software on operating systems that are normally not supported. With Wine, you can install and run these applications just like you would in Windows.
- - Wine is the most popular Android, Mac, Linux & Android Tablet alternative to CrossOver.
- - Wine is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to CrossOver.
Suggest and vote on features
Wine Features
Run Windows software
Emulation
Comments about Wine as a Alternative to CrossOver
Almost everyone thinks Wine is a great CrossOver alternative.
Guest
It’s free. And you never have to buy anything for wine. You can keep it as long as you want!! And I love that special ability! Thanks!
Positive comment •
0
PlayOnLinux - PlayOnMac
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Compatibility Layer Tool
Mac
Linux
BSD
Wine
FreeBSD
39 PlayOnLinux - PlayOnMac alternatives
PlayOnLinux is a graphical frontend for the Wine software compatibility layer which allows Linux and Mac users to install Windows-based video games, Microsoft Office (2000 to 2010), Microsoft Internet Explorer, as well as many other applications.
Suggest and vote on features
PlayOnLinux - PlayOnMac Features
1. Ad-freePlayOnLinux - PlayOnMac doesn't contain any form of external advertising.
Run Windows software
Run Windows Games
Opinions about PlayOnLinux - PlayOnMac as a Alternative to CrossOver
Most users think PlayOnLinux - PlayOnMac is a great CrossOver alternative.
Parallels Desktop
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Freemium • Proprietary
Virtualization Tool
Mac
47 Parallels Desktop alternatives
Parallels Desktop gives Mac users the ability to run Windows, Linux or any other operating system and their critical applications at the same time as macOS. Parallels Desktop is optimized for Intel and Apple M1 chip.
Suggest and vote on features
Parallels Desktop Features
1. Support for Multiple MonitorsParallels Desktop supports the use of multiple displays.
Run Windows software
Support for Apple M1
Office 365 integration
Comments about Parallels Desktop as a Alternative to CrossOver
This alternative is disputed. Parallels Desktop is still a legitimate CrossOver alternative, but it might have issues that some users think are important.
Guest
This is a virtualization tool, not a compatibility layer
Negative comment •
5

Guest
CrossOver emulates windows application layer. parallels creates a fully virtualised machine and requires Windows installation, like if it was a physical computer.
Negative comment •
10
Pegasus
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Game Library Manager
Mac
Windows
Linux
Android
Raspberry Pi
27 Pegasus alternatives
Pegasus is a graphical frontend for browsing your game library (especially retro games) and launching them from one place. It's focusing on customizability, cross platform support (including embedded devices) and high performance.
- - Pegasus is the most popular Windows alternative to CrossOver.
Suggest and vote on features
Pegasus Features
1. PortablePegasus can be used from a USB stick or similar with no prior installation.
Game Launcher
Whisky
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Compatibility Layer Tool
Mac
Wine
Homebrew
23 Whisky alternatives
Whisky provides a clean and easy to use graphical wrapper for Wine built in native SwiftUI. You can make and manage bottles, install and run Windows apps and games, and unlock the full potential of your Mac with no technical knowledge required.
Suggest and vote on features
Whisky Features
Run Windows software
WineBottler
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Compatibility Layer Tool
Mac
Wine
25 WineBottler alternatives
WineBottler is an App to manage and wrap your Windows apps into convenient OS X apps. WineBottler helps you with running Windows programs on OS X.
Suggest and vote on features
WineBottler Features
Run in existing prefix
Discontinued
The application has not been updated for almost three years: https://bitbucket.org/winebottler/winebottler/src/master/, https://bitbucket.org/winebottler/winebottler/src/master/It also does not support the latest versions of macOS: https://www.reddit.com/r/winehq/comments/j43ziq/comment/g7gqpk5/

Comments about WineBottler as a Alternative to CrossOver
pros, cons and recent comments
Guest
It's much more complicated than Crossover. CrossOver is simple to use and WineBottler is much more complicated
Negative comment •
-2
Q4wine
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Compatibility Layer Tool
Mac
Linux
BSD
Wine
25 Q4wine alternatives
Q4Wine is a qt4 GUI for wine that will help you manage wine prefixes and installed applications
Suggest and vote on features
Q4wine Features
1. Windows Explorer ExtensionQ4wine can extend Windows Explorer in various ways, for example add context menu options, etc..
Wineskin Winery
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Mac
Wine
23 Wineskin Winery alternatives
Wineskin is a tool used to make ports of Windows software to Mac OS X. The ports are in the form of normal Mac application bundle wrappers. It works like a wrapper around the Windows software, and you can share just the wrappers if you choose.
Suggest and vote on features
Wineskin Winery Features
Run Windows software
Run Windows Games
Discontinued
Hasn't been updated in over 6 years and doesn't work on most modern versions of macOS: https://sourceforge.net/projects/wineskin/, https://github.com/Gcenx/WineskinServer#wineskin
PyWinery
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Mac
Linux
Wine
18 PyWinery alternatives
PyWinery is a graphical, easy and simple wine-prefix manager which allows you to launch apps, explore and manage configuration of separate prefixes, graphically and faster than setting variables on linux shell.
Suggest and vote on features
PyWinery Features
Windows-explorer
Discontinued
Not updated for over five years: https://github.com/ergoithz/pywinery/commits/master
Nostlan
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Game Library Manager
Mac
Windows
Linux
116 Nostlan alternatives
A front-end or user interface (UI) is the presentation and interaction layer of an app or website. Most modern emulator apps have basic game list UIs that you can interact with using a mouse/keyboard but not a game controller.
Suggest and vote on features
Nostlan Features
1. Controller SupportNostlan supports the use of a controller (XBOX, PlayStation, etc.).
Game Launcher
Emulation
Xbox
Karton
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Compatibility Layer Tool
Mac
Linux
19 Karton alternatives
Run Linux programs on macOS, a different Linux distro, or a different architecture.
Karton has no features, suggest some!
Add a screenshot
Porting Kit
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Proprietary
Mac
20 Porting Kit alternatives
Using Wineskin technology, Porting Kit is a PaulTheTall.com app that can install games and apps compiled for Microsoft Windows® in Mac OS X. It has access to a server where we store WSI files for more than 300 games, which can be installed by any Porting Kit user.
Suggest and vote on features
Porting Kit Features
Run Windows software
Comments about Porting Kit as a Alternative to CrossOver
pros, cons and recent comments
paulthetall
Its free and has the same options.
Positive comment •
1